George Mason University said it has referred a student’s essay to state and federal law enforcement after it sparked concern online.
While GMU did not respond to a FFXnow request to specify which essay, a social media post from GMU comes after a student’s Substack post titled ‘When Must We Kill Them?‘ went viral in conservative circles.
The essay questions when resistance to President Donald Trump’s administration should become violent.
“If the present administration chooses this course, then the questions of the day can be settled not with legislation, but with blood and iron,” the essay said. “In short, we must decide when we must kill them.”
The essay does not explicitly call for violence against any administration officials, but argues that Americans should have a threshold at which they turn to violent revolution. It claims that it may be best to “wait for elections, but if it should threaten the ability to remove it, we shall have no choice.”
The essay’s author said on social media that they were contacted by the Secret Service.
Secret Service came by, and we had a lovely chat. Discussion touched on many points, with an amicable resolution of differences. Conduct is fully legal. https://t.co/YI7aaJBiOu
— Nicholas Decker 🏳️🌈🌐🇺🇦 (@captgouda24) April 18, 2025
The author posted an update this morning specifying that violence should be a last resort:
Violence is a last resort, not a first resort. It must come after the exhaustion of all possible remedy. It is not, moreover, appropriate for decisions which are merely unwise or disastrous. It is to be employed only in defense of our Constitution, and of democracy. If it is resorted to, it must be narrowly targeted, and aimed only at extirpating those who have power, and are unjustly resisting giving it up.
The post had nearly 500 comments by this afternoon (Friday).
GMU said it was aware of an “essay published online by one of its students that has created concern” and said campus police referred the essay to state and federal law enforcement for evaluation.
“George Mason condemns this and all encouragements of violence,” the GMU account said on X. “This is not the Mason way.”
George Mason University is aware of a recent essay published online by one of its students that has created concern.
Upon learning of the essay, Mason Police referred the matter to state and federal law enforcement for evaluation of criminal behavior. 1/2
— George Mason University (@GeorgeMasonU) April 18, 2025
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) Student Association Counsel Zach Greenberg said in a release that abstract calls for violence are protected speech:
George Mason University referred a student to law enforcement because his Substack article calling for violence against the Trump administration was “not the Mason way.” But the First Amendment—binding on public universities like GMU—protects core political speech consisting of rhetorical hyperbole and the mere endorsement of violence.
Student expression on public issues is very much the Mason way. The university is named after Founding Father George Mason, who advocated for abolishing a tyrannical government in his 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, which formed the basis of the Bill of Rights containing the First Amendment.
We call on GMU to live up to its name by refraining from punishing this student for clearly protected political speech.
The controversy over the essay comes at a precarious time for the university. GMU’s Board of Visitors recently approved a controversial antisemitism resolution that could restrict criticism of Israel and is currently considering cuts to diversity programs, bowing to pressure from the Trump administration despite outcry from the school’s students, staff and faculty.
